Krypton

Animated Max Fleischer Cataclysm

Krypton, (pronounced Krip'ton) the doomed planet where Superman was born.

The far-distant planet which was the home world of Superman until it exploded into fragments as the result of a cataclysmic chain reaction originating at the planet's core. It was as the doomed planet shuddered and rumbled in its dying moments that the Kryptonian scientist Jor-El and his wife Lara placed their infant son in an experimental rocket ship and launched him into the void, eventually to arrive on the planet Earth and to grow to maturity there as Superman (S No.53/1, Jul/Aug 1948: "The Origin of Superman!; and others)(TGSB).

Overview

The flag of Krypton

Its capital city was Kryptonopolis, where Jor-El, Lara and their infant, Kal-El, lived. In its original depiction, Krypton was shown as being inhabited by a race of super-beings.

In later depictions, Krypton had a super-scientific advanced civilization of non-super beings who only gained their super powers on Earth and/or under a yellow sun.

Among Krypton's natural wonders were the Jewel Mountains, the Scarlet Jungle, the Fire Falls, Gold Volcano and the Rainbow Canyon. Other than Kryptonopolis, major cities on the planet included Kandor and Argo City.

Astronomical and Planetary Details

Krypton was "a planet of giant size" (S No.146/1, July 1961: "The Story of Superman's Life; and others), located somewhere "in the outer reaches of trackless space" (S No.53/1, Jul/Aug 1948: "The Origin of Superman!"; and others). Described as "an unusual planet," with a "unique atmosphere" and a "tremendous gravitational pull" far greater than that of Earth (S No.113, May 1957: "The Superman of the Past"; and others). Krypton had a massive uranium core (S No.53/1) and was occasionally swept by windstorms so violent that the planet's tallest skyscrapers had to be lowered into the ground to prevent their being toppled by the powerful gales (S No.123, Aug 1958: "The Girl of Steel"; and others).

Although a number of texts seem to place Krypton in the same solar system as that of Earth (WF No.57, Mar/Apr 1952: “The Artificial Superman!”; and others), somewhere “past Mars, Jupiter and Saturn” (Act No. 182, Jul 1953: “The Return of Planet Krypton!”), the vast preponderance of textual evidence places the planet of Superman’s birth “in a distant solar system” (S No. 137, May 1960: chs. I-III “The Super Brat from Krypton”; “The Young Super-Bully”; “Superman vs. Super-Menace!”; and others), revolving about a red sun (S No. 141, Nov 1960: “Superman’s Return to Krypton!” pts. 1-3 “Superman Meets Jor-El and Lara Again!”; “Super. man’s Kryptonian Romance!”; “The Surprise of Fate!”; and others), as distinguished from Earth’s yellow sun, at the rate of approximately one revolution per 1.39 Earth years (S No. 157/1, Nov 1962: “The Super-Revenge of the Phantom Zone Prisoner!”)(TGSB).

"Born almost six billion time-cycles ago" (S No.170/2, July 1964: pts I-II --"If Lex Luthor were Superman's Father!"; "The Wedding of Lara and Luthor!") --six billion time-cycles being the equivalent of approximately 8.3 billion Earth years if one assumes that the term "sun-cycle" and "time-cycle" are synonymous (S No.157/1, Nov 1962: "The Super-Revenge of the Phantom Zone Prisoner!") --the planet Krypton occupied the same solar system as the planet Thoron (S No.80/1, Jan/Feb 1953: "Superman's Big Brother!") and was orbited, at various times in its history, by two, three, an perhaps even four natural satellites. When, in November 1960, Superman makes a time-journey to Krypton in the period immediately preceeding its destruction, he romances lovely Lyla Lerrol "under the soft radiance of Krypton's two moons..." (S No.141,: "Superman's Return to Krypton", pts I-III); but it is firmly established in the chronicles that the renegade Kryptonian scientist Jax-Ur destroyed one of Krypton's moons [see Wegthor] prior to this period, a heinous crime for which Jax-Ur was banished into the Phantom Zone (Act No.310, Mar 1964: "Secret of the Kryptonite Six!"; and others), clear evidence that Krypton had three moons - one of which was evidently named Koron (S No.78/1, Sept/Oct 1952: "The Beast from Krypton!") --in the not-too-distant past. In addition, the planet Xenon, the so-called "twin world of Krypton," was evidently Krypton's fourth moon, sometime in the ancient past, until it "spun out of its orbit and left Krypton forever" (S No.119, Feb 1958: "The Second Superman!" chs 1-3).

Although the planet Krypton was much like Earth in a multitude of ways --it is even called Earth's "sister world" in Superman No.53/1 (Jul/Aug 1958)-- Krypton's atmosphere and solar radiation were substanially different from Earth's (WF No.57, Mar/Apr 1952: "The Artifical Superman!"; and others), and the weight of its gravity was so much greater that Professor William Enders could move about with only the utmost difficulty when he visited the planet at the behest of Jor-El (S No.77/1, Jul/Aug 1952: "The Man Who Went to Krypton!"). The distance from Earth to Krypton has never been measured with absolute certainty, but scientist Mel Evans has estimated the "probable distance at 0.317 light years" (S No.136/2, Apr 1960: "The Secret of Kryptonite!").

Civilization

Krypton was an advanced civilization, with people of great intelligence and physical perfection. The planet was apparently divided into a series of separate nations, but these nations had long since combined to form a planet-wide union, uniting all Kryptonians under a single flag, a single government, a single constitution, and a single planet-wide language, Kryptonese. Possessed of high intelligence, the people of Krypton had built a super-scientific civilization far beyond that of Earth. Crime was virtually unknown on Krypton and there had been no war on the planet for thousands of years. Capital punishment was unknown, and Kryptonians were bound, in all their dealings with each other, by a strict Kryptonian Code of Honor. Indications are that they were a freedom-loving people who would have preferred death to dictatorship.

Perhaps one explanation for the comparative lack of strife on Krypton lay in the relative sparseness of the population, for despite the vast size of the planet, its population may have numbered only in the millions.

According to Superman No. 53, Krypton's inhabitants were humans of high intelligence and magnificent physical perfection. Although several early texts refer to them as Kryptonites, the vast majority of texts refer to them as Kryptonians, describing them as a super-scientific, intelligent people and as a great people, physically perfect and of immense intelligence and science. On the planet Krypton, explains Action Comics No. 233 (1956), even three-year-olds could solve complex mathematical equations.

Government

The Kryptonian system of government is never cleary described in the chronicles, but it is clear that the scientific establishment commanded wide respect and exerted considerable influence on political and social policy. The Council of Five, a body of distinguished scientists who, if they did not actually govern the planet themselves, obviously carried much weight with those who did, is mentioned in Superman No. 53 and there are numerous references in other texts to the Council, the Science Council, and the Council of Scientists.

Superman No. 65 makes reference to Krypton's ruling council, which consisted of the planet's ten leading scientists, a clear suggestion that Krypton's leading scientific body governed the planet, but Action Comics No. 223 distinguishes between the Council of Science and Krypton's highest officials, suggesting that the Council, while influential, was not really charged with the responsibility of ruling the planet. Superman No. 154, however, contains a brief reference to a Supreme Council, a title clearly suggestive of supreme political authority. All in all, then, it is probably safest to infer that Krypton was ruled by a political body, probably elected, which was counseled and advised by a body of distinguished scientists exercising considerable influence over political decision making.

The capital of Krypton was the city of Kandor. Several years before Krypton exploded, however, Kandor was reduced to microscopic size and stolen by the space villain Brainiac, and a new world capital was established in the city of Kryptonopolis, the city which would later become Superman's birthplace.

Fluttering from the flagstaff atop the World Capitol Building - which, like the city of Kryptonopolis itself, had been designed by Superman's ancestor Gam-El, the father of modern Kryptonian architecture - was the flag of Krypton, a multicolored banner consisting of pale rays of blue, yellow, lavender, white, green, orange, pink, light green, and red radiating outward from a circular center featuring a green and pale blue design suggestive of a body of water all but encircled by lush green land.

Maintaining public order was the role of the Krypton Security Force, while the task of maintaining internal security and apprehending criminals was entrusted to the Krypton Bureau of Investigation.

Crime was only a minor problem on Krypton. Indeed, the research of the Kryptonian scientist Raf Arlo had established that most of the crimes on the planet were perpetrated by an unknown race of invisible people. When malefactors were apprehended, they were placed on trial in Kryptonian courtrooms where verdicts were handed down by Kryptonian justice councils, deliberate bodies analogous to American juries.

Because Kryptonians were opposed to capital punishment, and, in fact, had never in their history practiced it, the perpetrators of serious crimes were exiled into space in a state of suspended animation inside space capsules constructed specially for the purpose. According to Superman No. 65, the space capsules were made of transparent plastic and shaped like rocket ships, but according to Superman No. 123, the so-called "prison satellites" were of a spherical shape. The criminals imprisoned inside them were placed in suspended animation by means of a special sleep gas, and chunks of a glowing crystalline mineral - capable of cleansing their brains of criminal tendencies in a hundred years' time - were placed on their foreheads so that ultimately, once their sentence was served, they might take up constructive roles in Kryptonian society.

The practice of exiling criminals into outer space was terminated, however, after Superman's father, Jor-El, discovered the Phantom Zone, a twilight dimension to which criminals could be banished to serve out their sentences as disembodied wraiths.

One of the most important government departments was the Krypton Record Bureau, where complete records of every Kryptonian's life were maintained on ingenious thought-projection discs. According to Action Comics No. 149, such important events as courtship and marriage were recorded astro-electricly, from each person's memory. By concentrating on one of those discs - in a darkened room - anybody could cause a complete image of remembered events to appear.

Science and Technology

Scientifically and technologically, Kryptonian civilization was far advanced over that of Earth. Although the science of space travel was still in its infancy and true spaceships did not yet exist, Kryptonian scientists - most notably Jor-El - had experimented with both manned and unmanned satellites and had launched monkeys, at least one dog, and perhaps other test animals into outer space in small experimental rockets.

Astronomy on Krypton was highly advanced, enabling Kryptonian scientists to study Earth and presumably other planets with excruciating clarity by means of super-powerful telescopes, even to the extent of being able to tune in on selected alien individuals and monitor and translate their private conversations.

Travel

Despite the lack of spaceships for interplanetary travel, transportation on Krypton was highly developed. People voyaged about the planet aboard sleek, rocketlike airships, or flitted about Krypton's picturesque metropolises - such as Kandor, Kryptonopolis, and Argo City - in bubble-topped jet-taxis or by means of jetlike devices called solo-rocket tubes which, strapped to an individual's back, enabled him or her to fly through the air.

Travel underwater was by means of a small rocket-powered craft known as an aqua-cone, and virtually every Kryptonian family owned its own "Jor-El," an all-purpose, mass-produced vehicle, invented by Superman's father, which could travel on land, sea, or air, and even underground.

Daily Life

Sophisticated weather control towers enabled the people of Krypton to purify their air and control their weather, while an advanced solar energy tower enabled them to store and utilize the solar energy emanating from their planet's red sun. In homes that were apparently heated by atomic power, Kryptonian families entertained themselves by watching 3-D TV while, outside in the streets, other Kryptonians moved along the city's moving sidewalks, gazing at the public news monitor a billboard sized color-TV screen - to keep abreast of current events, watching other Kryptonians queuing up for emotion-movies, or visiting the incredible Mind-Art Center, where, by means of a complex apparatus called a "mento-ray," designed to freeze the artist's mental pictures on canvas, Kryptonian artists created art masterpieces by merely envisioning them in their minds.

Landmarks and places of interest on Krypton included:

The Hall of Worlds, containing replica scenes of strange planets in faraway solar systems that Kryptonians had observed via super-space telescope;

The Red Tower of Kryptonopolis, one of Krypton's great architectural landmarks;

The Grotto of Images, a giant chamber of mirrors that is said to magnify the love of sweethearts who visit by as many times as there are reflections;

Krypton's famous floating city, a city of approximately 1,000,000 inhabitants floating on the surface of a river atop gigantic pontoons;

The Cosmic Clock, a gigantic timepiece, measuring time in billions of years, which showed how Krypton was born almost six billion time-cycles ago and which, tragically, lulled the people of Krypton into a false sense of complacency concerning the future of their planet by predicting, incorrectly, that Krypton would remain safe from all harm for endless years into the future.

The most important Kryptonian literary achievement was the Kryptoniad, a great epic chronicling the struggle of ancient Kryptonians to transform their planet into a civilized world.

On Krypton, robots performed all hard labor and could be bought at small cost. Heavy construction work was accomplished by means of sophisticated building machines.

Although Kryptonians had at least one serious disease, Virus X, for which there was no known cure, childhood diseases were not a problem: filing through a health cabinet on their first day of school, Kryptonian children were immunized against all childhood diseases by means of an ingenious microbe ray. Injuries were apparently not a problem either, as even potentially fatal wounds could be healed almost instantaneously by means of a miraculous healing ray employed by Kryptonian surgeons.

In Kryptonian schools, lessons were taught with the aid of sophisticated telepathy helmets which enabled teachers to transmit knowledge to their pupils telepathically at phenominal speed. The treatment of psychological problems - as well as the investigation of misconduct of all kinds was facilitated by an ingenious mind-reading device known as a mind prober machine, and mental retardation had all but ceased to be a problem thanks to the pioneering work of scientist Lon Gorg, whose supra-psyche treatments successfully transformed morons into geniuses.

Historically, famine apparently had afflicted certain areas of Krypton, but an amazing growth ray for plants, invented by Superman's father and capable of growing vegetables 100 times bigger than their normal size, promised to end the problem of hunger forever within a very short time.

Family Names

In Kryptonian society, descent and inheritance were patroclinous. The names of most - but by no means all - Kryptonian males were duosyllabic, with the first syllable being the given name, the second the surname. Thus, Jor-El was the brother of Zor-El and the father of Kal-El, Kal-El being Superman's Kryptonian name (Act No. 252, May 1959:"The Supergirl from Krypton"; and others). Than-Ar was the brother of Jhan-Ar (WF No. 143, Aug 1964:"The Feud Between Batman and Superman!" ptsI-III --no title; "The Manhunters from Earth!"), and Mag-En was the father of Ral-En (S No 154/2, Jul 1962:"Krypton's First Superman"). Sometimes first and last names were linked by a hyphen (e.g., Jor-El, Quex-Ul, Mag-En). Just as often, however, they were not (e.g., Val Arn, Khai Zor, Than Ol). And some names, it must be noted, appear to have defied the system entirely (e.g., Mala, Kizo, General Zod).

Many of the most revered figures in Kryptonian history were members of the so-called House of El and were, therefore, ancestors of Superman. Among them were Val-El, who launched his planet's Age of Exploration and discovered islands and continents; Sul-El, who invented Krypton's first telescope and charted many far off stars, including Earth's sun; Tala-El, a great lawyer and statesman who authored Krypton's planet-wide constitution; and Hatu-El, who discovered the nature of electricity, proved that lightning was electrical, and invented Krypton's first electric motor.

Each female child on Krypton was given a special feminine first name (e.g., Kara, Lara, Joenne), which, when followed by her father's name, formed her own full name, so that Kara Zor-El, for example, was Kara, the daughter of Zor-El. When a woman married, she dropped her father's name and assumed her husband's: when Lara married Jor-El, for example, she became Lara Jor-El, or, more formally, Mrs. Jor-El (S No. 179/2, Aug 1965: "The Menace of Gold Kryptonite!"; and others).

Tradition

Weddings took place in the Palace of Marriage (S No. 141, Nov 1960: "Superman's Return to Krypton!"), with the betrothed couple mounting the Jewel of Honor (S No. 170/2, Jul 1964: "If Lex Luthor was Superman's Father"), or Jewel of Truth and Honor (S No. 179/2, Aug 1965: "The Menace of Gold Kryptonite") - a low pedestal carved from a single, huge, multifaceted jewel - and exchanging vows, accompanied either by an exchange of wedding rings or by the donning of marriage bracelets of a color variation all their own, which no other couple was allowed to duplicate. In accordance with an old Kryptonian custom, statues of the parents of both the bride and the groom adorned the wedding hall. According to the Supergirl story in Action Comics No. 289, marriage between cousins was prohibited on Krypton (Jun 1962: "Superman's Super-Courtship").

Although the Kryptonians were, by and large, an intellectually sophisticated people, they were not without their superstitions. According to Superman No. 164/2, which enumerates four Kryptonian superstitions, it was considered bad luck for a bride to wear jewels from the Jewel Mountains at her wedding; the killing of birds was regarded as extremely unlucky, hence the absence of bird hunting on Krypton; an old Kryptonian belief dictated that upon seeing a comet, a person must hide in a cave for 24 hours or he'd die; and Kryptonian criminals believed that if they experienced failure, drawing a picture of a Kryptonian mythological creature known as a "one-eyed grompus" would cause Krypton's demons to bring them good luck (Oct 1963: "The Fugitive from the Phantom Zone!).

A holiday of great importance on Krypton was the Day of Truth, celebrated annually, on which Kryptonians spoke nothing but the truth to one another - even though the truth might be abrasive and undiplomatic - in order to honor the memory of Val-Lor, a valiant Kryptonian of ancient times, who, by courageously speaking out against the ruthless swarm of alien invaders - known as Vrangs - who had invaded Krypton and enslaved its people, inspired his fellow Kryptonians to revolt against the Vrangs and drive them from Krypton, albeit at the cost of his own life. The Day of Truth is still celebrated each April in the bottle city of Kandor (S No. 176/3, Apr 1965: "Superman's Day of Truth!)

Religion

Although Krypton was an advanced scientific civilization, it was originally a religious society made up of conflicting faiths. Initially a grouping of polytheistic states, Krypton eventually transformed itself into a united, essentially secular state. Ultimately, the vestiges of Krypton's religious past survive in the small number of mild oaths and observed traditions practiced by Superman and his extended family.

Chief among the ancient Kryptonian deities was Rao, god of the sun.

Yuda was the goddess of love and also of Krypton's two moons (KC No. 3, Nov 1981: "The Race to Overtake the Past").

When Supergirl visits her family in the Bottle City of Kandor, she encounters three statues on the "Boulevard of Legendary Heroes" bearing the likeness of "mythical gods of ancient Krypton". These are Telle, god of wisdom; Mordo, god of strength; and Lorra, goddess of beauty (Act No. 299, Apr 1963: "The Fantastic Secret of Superbaby II"). According to Supergirl, Lorra is the "image of Lyla, the girl Superman fell in love with when he made a time-journey into the past and visited Krypton". [see Lyla Lerrol]

In addition to the ancient worship of these deities, Kryptonians also practice a form of ancestor worship. In October 1963, Superboy discovers five statues of his ancestors which he is required to manipulate as part of the Father-Son test, a ritual of Kryptonian Father's Day. Similar statues are kept in the family crypts of all Kryptonians (Adv No. 313, Oct 1963: "Father's Day on Planet Krypton"). These same statues are encountered again when Superman and Supergirl engage in some research into the House of El for a TV miniseries on WGBS (KC No. 1, Sep 1981: "The Search for Superman's Roots").

Both Superman and Supergirl honour their ancestors through similar displays in the Fortress of Solitude.